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(Setting) Ampersand Investigations
| > The sound of stomping on the pavement hit the ground outside until eventually a woman with short blue hair stopped by the door and crumpled a gasping mess directly by it. Eventually the punk goth dressed woman pulled herself up by the door and shoved at it until she thought to try and open it normally.
"AMPERSAND! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!"
| "I do wonder what you're on about."
> The woman turns quickly, a cruel look in her eyes as she draws a pistol from a concealed holster. The patch is now much more visible - it reads 'SCO'.
"Didn't you read the paper? Ampersand is dead."
| "Yeah? Who are you, then?"
> The woman replied while crossing her arms and attempting to catch her breath. She, as usual, appeared unbothered by the appearance of the woman's gun. Her gaze practically ignored its presence altogether---for the sake of locking eyes with the woman's.
| "You could call me a... coworker of sorts."
> The woman's finger tightens slightly on the trigger.
"Who might you be?"
|
| "I guess I'd be similar."
> She'd reply with an amused smile.
"You know. He pointed a gun at me too and realized it wouldn't do him any good. Are you coming to that conclusion too or am I just going to be a mess on Ampersand's personal effects?"
| "If Ampersand pointed a gun at you, you should have died. That one doesn't hesitate."
> She chuckles cruelly.
"I'd suggest you go home. This doesn't involve you, and I don't want it to."
| "That's where you're wrong. Both in whether or not it involves me and whether or not you have a choice in the matter."
> REM replied with the same smile across her lips.
"That said...If you can give me an explanation that satisfies me enough I might consider going home...But until that happens I have no desire to leave it alone. A real detective wouldn't do that after all...Plus I have a hard time believing Ampersand is dead."
| "If I told you anything I can guarantee you that you'd never leave me alone. Besides, any explanation I could give you is classified."
> The woman shakes her head.
"What I can tell you is that Ampersand isn't dead. That's all I'm at liberty to say."
|
| "So basically what I already knew."
> REM replied with a laugh.
"You're a woman, right? Don't you know intuition for us is pretty good? Anyway you're kind of already screwed there. I'm not leaving you alone until I learn what happened to Ampersand. Then I'm gonna go bother him~. I think you already know that though~."
| > The woman sighs.
"It's no fun, not having any leads. Tell you what, here."
> Holstering her weapon, the woman draws a small card from her jacket. It has seemingly random text printed on it.
> It reads:
> FCRPVNY PUNENPGRE BCRENGVIR
> VQRAGVSVRE FRZVPBYBA
| "If you can solve that, you can probably get the rest of the info on your own."
| > REM blinked and moved to take the card. She glanced it over and immediately her eyes brightened.
"A cryptogram! SWEEEEET! Got any paper? Nevermind I know where his paper is!"
> The blue haired girl cheerfully ran over to his desk and opened the only drawer the man had that wasn't locked and pulled out some printer paper. She then yoinked one of his desk pens and started working.
| "Er... well..."
> The woman is temporarily immobilized out of surprise at the sudden change of behavior.
| "Hmmn. Where'd you find this?"
>REM said while sitting back in her chair thoughtfully.
"Hehe~. Do you call yourself Semicolon, by chance?"
| "That's correct. You're unusually swift."
> The woman, whose name is apparently Semicolon, turns back to the window.
"I expect someone will contact you soon."
| "Eheh...I'm kind of a cryptology junkie. Plus admittedly I kind of guessed."
> REM said with a blush and a grin.
"But I won't say more than that~. Though how are they going to contact me?"
| "Hmmm. You like cryptography?"
> Semicolon suddenly turns around with a flourish.
"Let's just say you'll know when it happens."
| "...Semicolon. Your actual name isn't Cindy is it?"
>REM asked while spinning around in her chair.
"I think I might be good at guessing things due to my ability to quickly take in data. When I was little cryptography was really the only toy allowed to me where I grew up~. Naturally I loved it but it became even more fun when I could just do it because I wanted to~."
| "Did a young woman other than me ever show up? Really cute one? Granted you're kind of cute too~."
| "I... have no idea what you're talking about."
> Semicolon is looking more flustered by the second.
| "Aww maaan. I miss Elsy..."
>REM huffed softly and closed her eyes.
"I'll break into her sister's house again later and check the GPS tag she has on her. As for you...Are you going to stick around?"
>She turned and grinned.
"If you've got time, I'd love to learn more about you~."
| "I can't stay - I was just retrieving something."
> With that, Semicolon spins a revolver with a flourish.
"Ampersand said he wanted this back."
| "Mmm...I guess you're not going to just take me to him, huh?"
> REM questioned while still spinning around in the chair.
"Let him know REM misses him~! I'm going to come looking for him if he doesn't contact me~. He knows I will too."
| > Semicolon sighs.
"A persistent one. I'll let him know."
> Semicolon leaves with a flourish, leaving a card in her wake.
> FCRPVNY PUNENPGRE BCRENGVIR
> VQRAGVSVRE: NZCREFNAQ
| >REM pulled herself out of her chair and picked up the card. She tilted her head at it and glanced it over before a giggle left her.
"Eh? Another Identifier card? I guess I'll know who's this is soon enough...though I already have a pretty good idea."
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| > It's eerily quiet. A woman stands at the far end of the room, looking through a window out onto the streets below.
> Unconsciously, she rubs a patch on the sleeve of her jacket.